Higher education – a conversation determined by you (SoCal Solutions)

A college degree has become essential for upward mobility, but many who are accepted find that the cost is prohibitive. Most of those who graduate do so with tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

We asked you: What discussion do you think we should be having about higher education? KPCC In Person set the time and place for this event. The rest was up to you. We collected your questions and opened it up to a vote. Your fellow community members determined the following focus for the conversation:

“I'd like to know how [and] why the TOTAL cost of college got so high and what we can do about it to bring the cost down.”

We now invite you to join KPCC In Person, The National Center for the Preservation for Democracy and KPCC’s Education Correspondent Adolfo Guzman-Lopez on Wednesday, April 10, at the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles to discuss this important matter.

We’ll explore how California went from a state that provided free college education after World War II to a state that in most cases is attaching crippling debt to a college degree. We’ll also hear about the challenges students face when it comes to paying for tuition and other expenses as well as about what’s being done to help make college more affordable.